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Cruises are not for everyone. But what if some people in the house want to go on a cruise while others are well, just plain Grumpy?

Only an extraordinary port-of-call was going to tempt us to leave the comforts of the Disney Fantasy during a recent three-night media-preview cruise.

Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, with its turquoise waters and white sand beaches, was idyllic enough to lure us off the ship. Since the Fantasy docked alongside the island, reaching the shore was just a matter of strolling off the ship.

From there, we took a short tram ride to one of the island's family beaches, which are about as family-friendly as it's possible to be. You don't have to be adventurous or a strong swimmer to venture into the crystal clear water.

To help make guests feel comfortable in the water - and to prevent swimmers from damaging the sea life's natural habitat - offshore eco-safe nets prevent sea life from coming into the family swimming areas. The only sea life my seven-year-old daughter and I spotted while we were in the water was one tiny, unassuming fish. We found it easy to stay within our comfort depth of chest-high water.

When it was time for lunch, we headed to the all-you-care-to-eat open-air buffet just steps away from the beach. Between playing in the water and lounging on the picture-perfect shore, we were content to stay on the family beach. But the island offers visitors plenty of other activities and areas, including an adults-only beach area, parasailing, snorkelling, a swimming-with-the-stingrays adventure and guided walking tours.

As we headed back to the ship, it occurred to me that leaving paradise after just one afternoon would have been a more wrenching experience if we weren't exchanging one post-card-worthy backdrop for another.

Along with other media and guests, we were invited to experience some of the entertainment, dining and recreation options offered on the newly launched Fantasy.

Following are a few of our favourite experiences from the ship's media sailing, which took us from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Castaway Cay in the Bahamas and back to Port Canaveral.

ROLLER COASTER AT SEA

One of the first things we did after boarding the Fantasy was to head over to the AquaDuck water coaster. Speed lover Simran, 7, rarely sees a roller coaster she doesn't want to tackle, and since this water-propelled ride includes a loop that takes riders beyond the side of the ship, suspending them above the ocean in a clear acrylic tube, it was a must on her to-do list.

Simran and her dad boarded a two-person inflatable raft and I watched from the deck below as my loved ones were swung off the side of the ship for a few moments. When it was my turn for a spin, I loved the sensation of being enveloped by shades of blue -the sky above, the ocean below. Simran's verdict: Two thumbs up and more than worth a few minutes of waiting for her turn. ("Even being in line was kind of fun because you could hear the people ahead of you screaming.")

DINNER AND A SHOW

Our first dinner aboard the ship was in the Animator's Palate restaurant, where we each received a template on which to draw a character. After we finished and signed our drawings, we gave them to our servers.

During dinner, we were entertained by a montage of food-themed scenes from Disney films, but the real highlight was when all the characters we'd created earlier - even my own lacklustre effort - became part of the show during the "Animation Magic" portion of the evening. All of the drawings had been fully animated and marched across screens around the restaurant. Some of the newly created characters landed featured roles in the show, skipping, skating and dancing alongside super stars such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Snow White. Everyone received equal billing during at the end of the show, however, when all guests were acknowledged by name in the rolling credits. As a memento of the evening, our drawings were returned to us, complete with a golden seal acknowledging us as official Disney animators.

FOOD, FOOD EVERYWHERE

With good food available around the clock - 24-hour room service along with late-night snacks served on deck until 12:30 a.m. - it's difficult not to overindulge on a cruise.

My biggest splurge was dessert with both lunch and dinner. There's no such thing as guilt-free cheese-cake in my world but it was delicious enough to mitigate any pangs of regret because at least I hadn't blown my calorie budge on merely mediocre dessert.

For breakfast we sampled both the full service in the Royal Court restaurant as well as the breakfast buffet in the more casual Cabanas restaurant. We enjoyed the food in both but we preferred the self-ser-vice style of dining because it was so easy to choose smaller portions from a wide variety of dishes.

We had dinner in a different restaurant, each with a distinct theme, on each of our three nights on board. Animator's Palate features whimsical references - huge pencils and brushes, and character sketches - to an animator's studio. The elegant Royal Court has echoes of the ballroom in Beauty and the Beast. Enchanted Garden, with a fountain and a ceiling illuminated with twinkling "stars," was inspired by the gardens of Versailles.

STAGE SPECTACULARS

Each evening after dinner, we headed to the ship's 1,340-seat Walt Disney Theatre for a Broadway-style musical. We enjoyed all three shows but our favourite, by a narrow margin, was Believe, in which a workaholic father gets a lesson on what's really important in life. The real star of the show was the stage incarnation of Genie from Aladdin, whose antics appealed to both children and adults as he enlightened the work-obsessed dad with some help from Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Princess Tiana and other well-known characters.

We also saw the newly created stage adaptation of Disney's Aladdin and the new original production Disney Wishes. The latter includes a memorable live-action version of the "I've Got a Dream" tavern scene from the animated film Tangled, in which Rapunzel, her outlaw pal Flynn Rider and an assortment of tough guys with hearts of gold sing about their heart's desires.

The most infectious number, though, may have been "I Wanna Be Like You" from the classic Disney film Jungle Book, which I've seen dozens of times over the years. Being such a fan of the film and that song in particular, I wouldn't have been impressed with anything other than a solid reworking of the number and this one delivered.

FUN AND GAMES

Along with all the family-friendly activities and attractions, the Fantasy is home to several adults-only venues, including the restaurants Palo and Remy, the Quiet Cove pool and bar and the Senses Spa.

To help parents make time for those grown-up getaways, the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab facilities are open all day and into the night to entertain and occupy children from ages three to 10. For very small children, there's the It's a Small World Nursery and for tweens and teens there's the Edge and Vibe hangouts. All the clubs are supervised by "counsellors" who lead activities and are available to assist young visitors.

Our daughter's favourite destination in the Oceaneer Lab was the Animator's Studio, equipped with a light box table, drawing accessories, an animation simulator and other animator's tools. Visitors can create their own art or practise sketching well-known characters. One of the most popular attractions with young visitors in the kids clubs was the Magic PlayFloor, an interactive floor where the players' movements control the action. During storytelling activities, counsellors use the PlayFloor to involve children in the action, such as flying over the streets of London with Peter Pan.

For some active outdoor play, we headed to Deck 12 for mini golf and a water-play area dubbed the AquaLab.

The latter is equipped with pop jets, geysers and suspended buckets that fill with water and tip over unexpectedly to drench those below.

We've had a chance to play minigolf in picturesque surroundings but Goofy's Golf Course on one of the Fantasy's top decks took the game to a whole new level.

It's not easy to pace yourself when there are so many temptations on board. (Who wants to call it a night even after a long day when there's a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed deck party and spectacular fire-works on deck?)

It's common for crew members and Disney princesses alike to wish guests a "magical day." In another setting that might sound cloying but during our stay aboard the Fantasy, it seemed both appropriate and entirely possible.

A WORLD OF FUN

Our Fantasy voyage was preceded by four days in Disney World, where we visited the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Many of the attractions at Magic Kingdom were familiar to us from visits to Disneyland but, really, does spinning in tea cups, cruising through the dark world of Captain Jack Sparrow and the other Pirates of the Caribbean or hurtling down Splash Mountain ever get old for a kid? Certainly not in the case of our seven-year-old, who took four rides on Splash Mountain, five on the tea cups (with her dad valiantly by her side even after acquiring a greenish tinge) and three on Pirates of the Caribbean.

It's tough to compete with those familiar favourites, but our daughter discovered new attractions she found just as thrilling at Animal Kingdom and Epcot parks.

Amid the lush grounds of Animal Kingdom Park, we navigated the Kali River Rapids during a white-water raft ride where the thrills were worth the price of a good drenching.

We stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, which doubles as a wildlife reserve. The property's "African savannah" is home to more than 200 mammals and birds. We had a view of zebras, giraffes, big-horned Ankole cattle and ostriches roaming the savannah just beyond our balcony. Needless to say, we didn't turn on the TV in our room.

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